Six Reasons Why
by Courtney in real life
Summary: Based on the novel "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher. Courtney commits suicide but only lets Noah, Heather, Duncan, Gwen, and Trent know the reason why she did it. But why them? And why did she want to die?
1. The Beginning of the End

A/N: Takes place towards the end of the fourth season of Total Drama.

* * *

On an island with unlimited food, a pool, and a hot tub, one would think that this island was paradise. However, for twenty-four contestants, this place was more than just paradise. It was a haven. A haven from the drama and pressure of winning money. A haven from the fear of being recorded doing something that can never be undone. A haven from well... Chris.

However, not every haven is as perfect or as safe as one thinks. Everyone would expect everybody to be happy in that haven. Everyone would expect everybody to be perfect in that haven.

Everybody's expectations was wrong.

* * *

?'s POV

**Last Night**

After convincing her that I was too tired to join everyone at the party (which takes place every night anyway), I was able to escape to the lobby. I walked up to the elevator doors and pressed the up button. Right away, the doors opened allowing me to walk inside and push on the number six. I smiled. _How ironic,_ I thought. However, my smile quickly disappeared when I realized how inappropriate it was.

With a loud ding, the doors opened again allowing me the access to the hallway. I walked down slowly counting the doors to the left.

"One... two... three... four... five... six!"

I turned and faced the sixth door. The door leading to my bedroom. I slid my key in and walked inside.

Inside, I made sure that everything was set in the right place. This was my only chance to make sure everything went right. Tomorrow would be too late.

I walked towards the balcony and looked down at the party. _Looks the same as yesterday. With or without me. _Some people were drinking. Some people were drinking. Some people were swimming. Some people were dancing. One couple was arguing. _But they'll make up tomorrow._ One person was strumming while looking into the sky. _Thoughts plague him, but I'm sure he'll be fine._ One person was living the life that she dreamed of. She smirked. _You_r _act may fool everybody but not me._

She looked around once more. One person was far away from everybody else and arguing with nobody. That made her pause. She had never seen that kind of reaction from that person before. It also made her want to go back down.

_Almost._

Because maybe that person knew.

She shook her head. _No, _she thought. _I've been careful. I haven't even hinted anything close to it._

She turned around and walked towards her bed. There, on her night stand, were sleeping pills. _I wonder how many I need to take in order for this to work._

I looked at the instructions. According to it, two was enough for a full eight hour rest. I smirked, put the pills in my mouth, gulped it down with my bottle of water, and laid down on my bed.

And if you're wondering, I did not take two pills.

Can you guess how many I ingested?

* * *

Bridgette's POV

**The Next Morning**

I knock on her door and wait. No answer. I knock again.

_It's so unlike her to leave that early from the party,_ I thought. _I mean, I know she's been leaving a little earlier every time, but usually, she'll leave after we have our latest update of who got drunk first._

Still no answer.

I knock louder this time. "Courtney," I yell. "You told me to be your wake up call for today remember?" I wait. Nothing. I place my ear at the door but hear no footsteps.

I start banging on the door. "Come on, Courtney," I yell. "Don't pretend that you're hungover because I know you. You won't even touch alcohol." I wait for a minute. No answer.

"Dammit," I curse. I put my hand in my pocket and take out a spare key that Courtney gave to me when we first got onto the island. She usually hated when I used it, but hey, it's her fault for giving it to me. "That's it," I say as I put in the key. "I'm coming in."

I walk inside and look at her bed. _She's still sleeping._ I put my hand on her shoulder and give her a little shake. But her skin. It felt colder than usual.

"Courtney?"

No answer.

I roll her over on her back and gasp. _There's no way that she could be that pale. Unless..._

I check her heart. Nothing. I check her pulse. Nothing.

I try CPR. No response.

Panicking, I rush to the phone and call for paramedics.

"It's going to be okay," I tell Courtney. "You'll be fine."

I look down. _What's that in her hand?_ I take it out. _It's a letter! __Addressed to... Me?_

By then, the paramedics come in, leaving me to forget about the letter and focus on Courtney. But by then, I already know that it was too late.

* * *

No One's POV

If one was to look at the island at this very moment, he would just see a bunch of teenagers acting as though it was another day. However, today was far from a regular day.

For example, a couple who never fought before was arguing for the first time.

"I just don't get it," Gwen says. "Why are you doing this to us?"

Duncan rolls his eyes. To the viewing eyes during the third season, Duncan and Gwen seemed as a perfectly happy couple. And back then, it was true. They were at one point happy together. And Duncan couldn't deny that Gwen was a great kisser.

However, as time went by, Duncan realized that he wanted more in the relationship. He didn't want to just make out. He wanted to talk with her. Tell her everything on his mind. Have a real relationship.

Gwen, however, was not for that. Breaking up with Trent was hard for her and in her mind, it would be much easier to have fun in this relationship. Besides, look what happened when she tried a serious relationship. The guy became obsessed with her.

"Look," Duncan says. "I just want something serious."

Gwen raises her eyebrow at him. He couldn't be serious. A delinquent wants a serious relationship? That's unheard of. "I thought that's why you cheated on Courtney. Because you couldn't handle a serious relationship."

Duncan sighs. Yes, once upon a time ago, he thought he wanted to just have fun and not be committed. Courtney wouldn't do that. And Gwen was so willing...

He shook his head. "I decided to try to get back with Courtney."

"Seriously? You think she's going to take you back after all the shit you put her through?"

"No," he admits. "I don't expect her to. But I did realize that I weight have actually been in love with her and too scared to do something about it. I have to know what would have happened if I wasn't a coward and had done what I was supposed to." Then to himself he says, "What I felt for her, I don't think I can feel that way about anyone else."

Gwen glares at Duncan. _How dare he._ "And what about me?" Gwen asks.

Duncan smirks at her. "I'm sorry," he says. "I thought you said you didn't want anything serious."

* * *

Heather feels as though she was in a dream. Walking towards her is everybody's dream guy, yet he chose her.

Before she was even on the show, Heather never thought that she would be able to get a guy that would be able to handle her. She would purposely give people a hard time. If they couldn't handle it, they definitely didn't deserve her respect. They weren't even worth her time.

Every time a guy would ask her out, she would play hard to get. Very hard to get. The same when somebody tried to become friends with her. She knew it was mean, but hey, life is cruel anyway.

For example, when the first season began, Lindsay didn't immediately become her friend as shown on TV. No, she ignored Lindsay. Belittled Lindsay. Until finally, Lindsay got tired of the abuse and threw her make up bag at Heather. Heather, though pissed off at first, respected Lindsay and hung out with her through out the first season.

As for her boyfriend, Alejandro, when he first kissed her, she pushed him down the hill. He didn't take it and told her off after that gaining Heather's respect.

Alejandro walks up to Heather, picks up her hand, and kisses it.

Heather smiles. This is the dream life she always wanted. It was finally happening.

* * *

Trent strums his guitar and sighs.

After the third season of Total Drama, even though he did not participate in it, he was offered his own record deal. However, they told him that one of the songs they expected from him was a love song. After being dumped on TV and having your ex date your bully, it gets kind of hard to write a love song.

After the second season of Total Drama, he started a band with Cody, Harold, and Justin. They became instantly famous, and Trent dated a few fans. However, each of them was a disappointment, and he couldn't picture him getting serious with them.

But there was that one girl that he could have...

Trent shakes his head. He had his chance, and he blew it.

Trent put his guitar down and tries to look around for a couple that he can base his song on.

Gwen and Duncan? No, it would be weird to sing a song about your ex. Besides, right now, they looked the opposite of a couple.

Heather and Alejandro? No, who wants to listen to a song about two bad guys getting together?

Tyler and Lindsay? No, Lindsay can't even remember Tyler's name.

Cody and Sierra? Maybe. He'll just have to write it from Sierra's point of view and sound less stalkerish. However, Cody was his friend, and Trent is pretty sure that Cody wouldn't approve of that song.

Geoff and Bridgette? No, Trent is pretty sure he can't write a there minute song on their make out sessions. Besides, Bridgette isn't there right now. Where is Bridgette?

* * *

Noah sits up on his chair every time someone walks out of the lobby and every time he is disappointed. He doesn't know why he's even waiting for her. She doesn't usually come out to the pool until later when it was less crowded.

"I should've talked to her last night," he says to himself. "But no! Had to chicken out once again."

"You know talking to yourself is a sign that you're crazy," Izzy says.

Noah rolls his eyes. Of course, the one person who would know that is Ms. Crazy herself. He excuses himself from Izzy and walks over to Owen. Owen's the only one that knows about Noah's secret crush. He doesn't even know why he told Owen.

Actually, no, he takes it back. Owen doesn't know. But, his guess is a close enough answer.

They were both the same gender.

"I chickened out again," says Noah. He looks down at his feet disappointed in himself.

Owen, never being one to stay sad, says, "Cheer up. Today's a new day. You might finally get to talk to Bridgette."

After the incident in the third season where people were trying to cuddle each other to keep warm and he chose Bridgette, the contestants started to spread the information of Noah's certain crush on a surfer girl.

Noah didn't like Bridgette like that. But no one believed him. Except for one person, but that didn't matter now.

Besides, it was better if people thought he liked Bridgette instead of Cody.

"Yeah, Bridgette, of course," Noah says sarcastically.

* * *

Bridgette tries to wipe her eyes, but the tears wouldn't stop falling. Courtney was her first friend in Total Drama. They went through boy troubles, drama, and Chris together.

"How could she do this to herself," she asks herself softly.

Bridgette read the letter that Courtney addressed to her. In it, Courtney apologizes to Bridgette about leaving her, but she promises that she'll explain why she did it in the tape. Which Bridgette is now holding in her hand.

Bridgette just has to get six people to listen to it with her.

* * *

Bridgette signals to Geoff to turn off the music. Once that is done, she walks her way up to the stage and tests the microphone to make sure it's on.

"Is this thing on," she asks. Geoff gives her a thumbs up so she continues.

"I have terrible news," she says. "Last night, one of our friends has left us. Forever." Bridgette starts to cry again.

The contestants all look around for the missing person. Which one was gone?

Then DJ spoke up. "So by left us forever, you don't mean..."

Bridgette nods her head. "Yes. She's dead. I'm sorry to say that she committed suicide."

Gasps could be heard as people whispered to one another. Who done it? And why?

"And by she," Bridgette continues. "I mean Courtney."

Everyone cries in horror of what happened.

But nobody was as shocked or hurt as the there'd of them were.

"I would tell you all the reason why she did it, but Courtney asked that I would only bring these people. So if I call your name, please come with me to my room. Noah..."

"I've never seen them interact before," whispers Eva to Ezekial. "I wonder why she wants him."

"Heather..."

"Although she's been nice to her in the plane," says Lindsay. "I've never seen her really talk to Courtney."

Beth nods in agreement. "Yeah, I wonder what that's about."

"Duncan..."

"Why," says Tyler. "He cheated on her. I thought she would be too mad to even mention his name."

"Gwen..."

"Her too," says Tyler again.

"and Trent."

"You guys talked before," Cody asks Trent. Trent chose not to answer.

"Let's go up to my room," says Bridgette leading the way as the other five follow her.

While walking, each of them hard the same question in their minds, "Why me?"

* * *

Bridgette puts her key in and opens the door letting everyone in. Then, she locked the door, locked the balcony doors, and closed the shades. She turns around but doesn't look them in the eyes because she knows that after this, she will never think of them the same.

"I know you guys have a lot of questions, but Courtney promised that all will be answered in these tapes."

She carefully places tape number in the tape player that Courtney ahead left for her. She takes a deep breath and presses play.

"Hello everybody."

They all gasp. For them, hearing Courtney's voice was like hearing a ghosts voice.

"I trust that Bridgette gathered all of you into a separate room in order to hear about my reason for wanting to kill myself. I guess the simple answer is that I wasn't happy with my life but that doesn't explain the reason you guys are here, does it?"

Courtney clears her throat.

"You guys are here..."

She pauses.

"Because each and every one of you gave me a reason for wanting to kill myself."


	2. The First is Always the Worst

Bridgette pauses the tape and observes everyone's reaction. Trent has wide eyes as though he was in shock, but Bridgette could see through his eyes that he knew why he was here. Heather looks at her nails as if she does not care or belong there, but Bridgette could see that Heather was slightly shaking. Gwen and Duncan have a guilty expression on their faces because they knew that the whole world knew what they had done, but at the same time, they knew that that was only half the story. Noah looks down on his feet with his eyes shut tight. _This isn't happening,_ Noah thinks. _This can't be happening. She can't be dead.__  
_

Bridgette then presses play to once again here Courtney's voice.

"I just wanted you to know that all of you had a huge impact in my decision to die," said Courtney. "No matter how small you thought your fault was to me. No matter how insignificant you thought your fault was to me. You are all at fault."

The tape pauses for a minute before Courtney continues.

"But let me start with my apologies to everyone first. After all, all suicide notes, or I guess in this case 'tapes', contain an apology to the people that could've been affected by my death. But don't be surprised if I don't sound sincere. After all, you're the reason that I'm dead."

They listen to what sounded like Courtney taking out a piece of paper and straightening it. She then cleared her throat. "So, here it goes:

"Duncan."

Duncan looks at the tape recorder when he hears his name.

"I'm sorry for the boyfriend list. It was really stupid of me, and I can see how you would get annoyed by it. However, later on, you will see why I thought it was necessary at the time. Trent."

Trent closes his eyes and tries to imagine Courtney in front of him speaking to him. Not the recorder.

"I'm sorry that the misfortunes that happened to me also affected you. I hope you get through yours and don't end up like me.

"Gwen. I'm sorry that I broke our friendship because of my shitty relationship with a stupid boy. No offense, Duncan." _Hey, I'm one of the reasons you died,_ thought Duncan. _You can insult me as much as you want. I probably deserve it._

"Heather."

Heather looks up. _She actually has an apology for me?_ "I'm sorry for keeping you away from what you wanted." Heather looks down again. _You really shouldn't apologize for that. Looking back, it was stupid._

"Bridgette. I'm sorry for leaving you alone without a proper goodbye." Bridgette sniffles a bit but holds back the tears. _It's not me that should be crying._

"And Noah." Noah looks up reluctantly. "I'm sorry for... Well, I can't tell you yet unfortunately.

"I know that each and every one of you know why you're here. Or at least partially. But I know that you're also wondering why the other people are here." Courtney laughed. "My life is not as simple as seen on TV. There was a reason for everything I did. And it all began with the person I've known the longest."

Everyone looked at Bridgette or Duncan expecting it to be one of them.

"So let's start with you, Noah."

* * *

**FLASHBACK TO NOAH'S STORY**

Throughout the three seasons she was in, not once has Courtney been spotted talking to Noah (unless if you count his insults to her in Playa des Losers). However, Courtney and Noah did not meet on the island.

They met during their first day of seventh grade.

* * *

**FIRST DAY OF SEVENTH GRADE  
**

Courtney nervously looked around her as she walked down the hallway towards her locker which she should find on the left of her. Er... maybe it was the right?

She saw as people were talking to each other, meeting up at their locker, walking with each other to class... She cursed under her breath. All of these people knew each other from sixth grade. _Me? _She scoffed. _Well, we just HAD to move, didn't we?_

She sighed sadly and looked down at the map in her hand. _Maybe it's that locker? No, someone's already opening it. Am I even in the right hallway?_ She walked on, not noticing that someone was in front of her until it was too late.

"Oof," Courtney cried out as she walked into the girl standing by her locker. She dusted herself off not noticing the other girl giving her a look of disgust. "Sorry," said Courtney. "I didn't see you there."

"You better be sorry you damn new kid," the girl said.

Courtney looked up at the girl. She had long black hair and was wearing designer clothes that was way too fancy for a school day.

The Courtney today would have ripped that girl to shreds. This Courtney, however, was short and shy. So, instead, she turned around to walk away when she heard that girl say, "What? No comeback? Come on. You're not really gonna take what I said are you?" She heard as her group of friends laughed at her.

_Just keep walking,_ thought Courtney.

"Hey," said the girl running up to her. When she caught up to her, she put a hand on her shoulder and spun her around looking at her face to face. "I'm talking to you."

Courtney tried to pull away from her grip. "I'm just trying to get to my locker."

The girl smirked. "Nu uh," she said. "I don't like to win without a fight. So come on. What's the best you can do you short, horribly dressed, newbie bitch?"

"I don't really want to fight," Courtney said trying to walk away. But the girl pulled her back.

"You started this, so you're going to finish this."

Courtney started to panic. "Please, I-"

"Let her go," said a voice from behind the girl.

The girl turned around to face a boy who looked about their age. The girl smirked. "Or what? You can't exactly fight me with those noodles you call arms."

"I know that," said the boy. "But I can spread the fact that you stuff your bras."

Courtney watched as the girls eyes became wide. She let go of Courtney's shoulders and looked straight into the boy's eyes. "You wouldn't dare."

The boy smirked. "You've known me since kindergarten so you know I would."

The girl huffed and walked away leaving Courtney and the boy alone.

Courtney looked down at her feet and mumbled, "Thank you" at the boy.

"You're not hurt, are you?" She shook her head.

The boy smiled. "What's your name?"

Courtney looked up. "I'm Courtney."

The boy put out his hand. "Noah. Pleasure to meet you, Courtney."

* * *

From that day on, Noah and Courtney were inseparable. Because of their knowledge, they mostly took the same classes together, they would go over to each others houses to do homework together, Courtney listened when Noah would drone on and on about another book he read, and Noah would listen to Courtney as she practiced her violin. In fact, they have been hanging out so much that people started to question their relationship.

* * *

"Oh my gosh! Did you hear about Noah and Courtney?"

"I know! I give it to two weeks."

"You're such a pessimist. I give it six months."

Courtney and Noah watched from afar and rolled their eyes at them.

"Just ignore them," Noah said.

* * *

And truth be told, Courtney did have a crush on Noah since the day when he stood up for her. To her, it was really sweet and charming. Whenever people asked her if she was dating Noah, she would blush and shake her head no. But she could not deny that she kind of wished that they were dating. They both were at the same intelligence level and were comfortable around each other. They never had awkward moments together. However, she never brought out that conversation with Noah. She did not know how he felt and if it turned out that he did not like her, that would ruin their whole friendship. So she kept quiet hoping that she would never have to bring up their relationship.

Luckily she did not have to.

* * *

**NINTH GRADE**

It was a week before the winter dance, and Courtney still was not asked by Noah. _Well, what did I expect? He did tell me he liked someone..._

* * *

**LAST WEEK**

"So Noah," Courtney said looking at the ground. "Anyone you considered taking to the dance?"

"Well," said Noah slowly. "There was this one girl that I've liked for a while..."

Courtney looked up. _He likes someone and didn't tell me?_ "Who is it," asked Courtney shaking Noah. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Noah pulled away from Courtney and rubbed his shoulders. _That girls got a strong grip._ "Because I wanted to make sure that I liked her. Besides, I'm planning to ask her soon so you'll find out."

* * *

**BACK TO NINTH GRADE**

The bell rang signaling the end of her first period. She sighed and picked up her bag and started to get out of her seat to walk out the door.

"Courtney, can you please stay behind for a minute," the teacher asked.

Courtney froze where she was and watched as everyone walked out the door. _I've never been held back before. What did I do wrong? Did I fail a test?_

"Courtney," the teacher called out bringing her out of her thoughts. "A student told me to give this to you." He held out a rose. She took it and took a sniff of the rose. She loved the smell of roses.

"Who did it," Courtney asked.

"He said that he didn't want to be named," said the teacher. "You better hurry to your second class. You only have a couple of minutes."

Courtney thanked the teacher and walked out the door.

* * *

The next six classes were exactly like first period. At the end of the period, the teacher would ask Courtney to stay behind, give her the rose, but would not say who it was from.

* * *

Every period someone would ask about her roses.

"Who gave you those roses, Courtney," asked Alicia, the girl who sits next to her in math class.

Courtney shrugged. "I have no idea."

* * *

Or would suggest a person that might have given her the roses.

"I bet it's that new kid, Landon," said Jenny. She pointed to the guy in the corner.

Courtney laughed. Yes, she did associate with him a few times, but it was for homework help. Besides, he made it perfectly clear he was not into her. "I seriously doubt that."

* * *

When it was the end of the day, Courtney hugged all seven of her roses close to her. The mysterious guy still didn't reveal himself to her. She opened her locker to discover five more roses. She sighed. _I hope it's from someone sweet and not from a delinquent like Scott._

"SCOTT," screamed a teacher.

_Speak of the devil._

Courtney turned to see Scott running down the hallway with a paintball gun with a teacher covered with blue paint chasing him. She shook her head. _Some people are so immature._

* * *

Courtney walked to her house to discover a note taped to her front door. It read, "Do you have a date? Because I would love to go with you."

She laughed and said, "No, I don't."

"Good."

She turned around to face Noah.

"Courtney," he began nervously. "I just... Wanted to... You know... See if... You wanted to go to the dance with me?"

She dropped her roses and hugged Noah. "I would love to."

The rest was history.

* * *

**TENTH GRADE**

...Until tenth grade. Courtney's life could not have been more miserable. A month ago, her father had lost his job. "With this kind of economy, they couldn't handle to have that many workers," explained her father. "So they let me go. Well, fuck them. Lets see if they can survive without me."

At first, her mother tried to work extra shifts while her father tried to find another job. But when her father started to come back home drunk and irritated, it became clear that he stopped trying.

"You need to get a job," her mother begged. "We need the money to send Courtney to college."

"The hell with college," said her father. "I didn't attend college and look at me! I'm fine!"

"YOU ARE NOT FINE! YOU ARE DRUNK AND UNEMPLOYED!"

Whenever Courtney heard a fight like this, she would quietly escape to her room, put on her headphones, and blast the music until she could no longer hear them. Unfortunately, the cheap headphones did not do the trick this time.

"Dammit," she cursed. She listened to her parents fight. "They probably won't stop until tomorrow."

Opening her window, she crawled out until she reached the front lawn. _Thank god for a one story house._ She ran away from her house and ran towards the only person she could trust. Noah.

* * *

Courtney walked up to Noah's fromt door. She knocked and waited a few minutes but there was no answer. She tried again but the same thing happened. She walked over to the side of his house and looked inside the window. There was nobody there.

She walked back to the front and sat by the mail box. _What now?_

"Hey Courtney."

She turned her head and smiled when she saw Damien, her debate partner, on the next house's door step. "Hey there." She stood up and walked over to him.

"So what are you doing here?"

Courtney pointed over to Noah's house. "I went over to Noah's house to escape from my house, but it turns out he wasn't there."

Damien nodded. "Yeah, usually on Tuesday they don't come home until late."

Courtney sighed. "Great."

"Hey, if you want, you can stay in my house until Noah comes."

"Are you sure that's okay?"

"Yeah, my parents don't come until midnight anyway so it's just me and my sister."

Courtney smiled. "Why not?"

He smiled and opened the door. "Come on in."

She walked into the house not noticing a girl with long black hair glaring at her as she did.

* * *

"Courtney, wake up."

"What?" Courtney opened her eyes. "Where am I?"

"You fell asleep on the couch. It's 11:30 right now so I thought I would wake you up before my parents got home. Noah's home if you want to go to his house."

"No, it's okay. It's close to midnight anyway."

"Okay then. May I offer you a ride home?"

She looked out the window and noticed that the street lights were out. She sighed. "I'll take you up on that offer."

* * *

Noah sighed as he looked out the window. He texted Courtney two hours ago, and she still was not responding. _I hope everything's okay._

He looked and noticed Damien helping someone into his car. Someone with brown hair and tan skin. _Is that Courtney? But what would she be doing in Damien's house?_

He watched as the car took off. Noah pulled out his phone and dialed Courtney's number but reached voice mail.

"Why would her phone be off?"

* * *

**THE NEXT DAY**

Noah avoided Courtney like the plague. It's not that he did not trust her it's just that it felt weird seeing Courtney riding home with Damien. Maybe he should ask what that was about. Maybe it was nothing. He started to make his way to her locker when Damien's sister blocked his way.

"Hey Noah," she said. "Are you okay?"

Noah stopped. "What do you mean?"

"You and Courtney broke up didn't you?"

Noah looked at her confused. How could she even think that? "Why do you say that?"

She looked around before whispering in his ear. "Last night, she came to our house and then stayed with Damien in his room for a long time. Like a long, long time."

Noah did not need to hear this so he pulled away from her and walked away.

"Hey Noah."

He turned around. It was Courtney. He took a deep breath in and out. _Just play cool. Don't need to rush to the topic. _"Hey," he said.

"So," she said. "Anything intersting happen?"

"Not really. What about you? Anything intersting happen last night?"

Courtney thought for a moment. _Should I tell him about Damien? No, he knows that Damien likes me and he might make a big deal out of nothing._ "No not really."

"Why are you lying to me?"

Courtney looked at him confused. "What are you talking about?"

"I saw you last night, Courtney. What were you doing with Damien?"

"I didn't do anything."

"I know you're lying. It's just pathetic to see you trying to defend yourself." He turns around and walks. _I am right. She was cheating on me. So I did the right thing...right?_

**END OF FLASHBACK**

* * *

AN: So were you guys expecting that from Noah? Beware because there's more surprises from the other contestants too.

Also, if you have any questions for me (about my stories/future story plans/about me/etc), don't be afraid to ask in the reviews. I'll try to answer them in the next chapter.

P.S. Constructive criticism is welcome.


	3. You Don't Know Me

**BACK TO THE PRESENT**

"You could have waited for me to explain," said Courtney. "But no. You always thought of yourself as being the only one with a brain in school and always thought that you're right. Actually, you always have to think you're right. Being wrong just isn't an option for you, is it?"

Courtney sighed. "But the part I'm most disappointed in is that you didn't even try to talk to me after that. Had to hold on to your pride, didn't you?"

"Now Bridgette."

Bridgette looks up at the tape recorder.

"Give this tape to Noah. Noah."

Noah looks up at the tape recorder.

"You can take this tape with you to hell."

Once the tape finished, Bridgette opens the tape recorder, takes out the tape, and hands it to Noah.

Noah looks at the tape and says, "I didn't ignore her."

Trent rolls his eyes. "Noah," he says. "We all heard from her what happened. There's no need to lie."

"I'm not lying," Noah says still looking at the tape. He closes his eyes and takes a breath. "A week after the argument took place, I left a note in Courtney's locker telling her to meet me after school so that we could talk. But she never showed up. I just assumed that she didn't want to see me."

"Yeah," says Duncan while glaring at Noah. "Well, maybe she didn't see the note. Ever think about that? You're assumption is what made her die."

Bridgette walks across the room and slaps Duncan. "That's enough," says Bridgette to everyone. She looks at Duncan straight in the eyes and whispers, "In case you didn't here from the tape, there were six reasons why she committed suicide. Yes, Noah was one reason. But so were you. Learn to take some responsibility, Duncan."

She glares at Duncan and walks back to the tape recorder inserting the second tape. She pauses for a moment before pressing play.

"Did anyone notice that I mentioned everyone's names in Noah's story except for the girl who bullied me on my first day of seventh grade and Damien's sister," Courtney asked.

Nobody answers.

"Nobody? Wow. The people on this island are more daft than I thought." She paused for a moment. "Anyway, those two girls that I mentioned are the same person. Because of her, I found a person who brought me happiness. And it was because of her, that the only thing that made me happy was torn away from me. So, who wants to hear her story?"

"Oh shit," someone says.

* * *

**FLASHBACK TO THE FIRST DAY OF SEVENTH GRADE RIGHT AFTER NOAH SAVES COURTNEY**

"So who was that girl," asked Courtney while still looking around for her locker. _This has to be the_ _hall_, she thought while turning to her right. However, Noah grabbed her arm and shook his head while leading her towards the opposite hallway.

"That," said Noah. "Was Ms. Queen-Bee (he said while making quotation marks with his fingers), Heather, the most manipulative, spoiled, popular girl in this school." He rolled his eyes. "She thinks that just because her elementary days were horrible (again, said with quotation marks) she is entitled to popularity."

Courtney eyes went wide. "What happened?"

* * *

**FLASHBACK TO THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN**

Heather was jumping up and down. It was her first day of school, and she could not wait to show off er... color with her glittered crayons. She watched as her mother packed her lunch box with a sandwich, a juice box, and... celery sticks?

Heather shook her head. What kind of kid wanted to remember there first day of school when she had celery sticks? "No, mommy," shouted Heather. "I don't like celery. Put cookies in instead!"

Her mother sighed. "Heather," she said. "Don't you want to be healthy like Damien? Look, Damien ate all of his fruits for breakfast!"

Heather looked at her brother who slyly dropped his fruits into the mouth of their dog. She rolled her eyes. _Some role model._

She watched with agony as her mother put in carrot sticks... apple slices... blueberries... she could not take it anymore. Heather felt the tears running down her cheeks. "I want the cookies," she shouted. "Give me the cookies." She pounded her fists on her mother's leg. Her mother just rolled her eyes.

That's when Heather's father walked in. As soon as Heather heard her father's footsteps, she ran up to him and held her arms up waiting for her father to pick her up. He chuckled and bent down to Heather's size. "Hello angel," he said. "I can't believe my little baby is going to her first day of school." He noticed her red eyes. "What's the matter? Why were you crying?"

Heather sniffled. "Mommy's trying to give me healthy stuff instead of cookies."

Her father looked at her mother. "Come on, honey. It's her first day."

Her mother sighed. "Fine." She grabbed a zip lock and put two cookies in there. Then she turned around and mumbled, "I need an aspirin" while she walked out of the room.

Her father opened up the zip lock again and put in five more cookies. He put it in the lunch box and gave it to Heather. "Don't tell mommy." He winked and walked out of the house.

And everyday, the same thing happened. And everyday, Heather would grow a little more wider.

* * *

**BACK TO SEVENTH GRADE**

"How big was she," asked Courtney.

"It wasn't that she was big," said Noah. "She was more on the chubby side. Nobody really teased her about it. Except for Josh. He nicknamed her 'chubby bunny'. However, if you asked her for the same story, she would've complained about how she was 'so fat' and how 'nobody wanted to play with her' and other lies like that."

"But why?"

"She wanted attention. She craved for it. The thing about Heather is that she feels like she needs everybody's eyes on her. Pretty insecure if you ask me."

"So how did she get her group of friends?"

"Well, it wasn't like Heather just picked them out of the blue. When Heather walked into school skinny and with, what they told me was, expensive clothes, every girl wanted a taste of that lifestyle. However, they had to stand up to Heather in order to do that."

"Why?"

"She wasn't going to take someone without a backbone. Or, at least that's what I heard last year in study hall. Worse class ever. I couldn't concentrate on working because all that the girls do is gossip." He rolled his eyes. "Honestly, I will never understand people like that."

"So when Heather told me to fight her..."

"She was recruiting you. But, luckily, I saved you." He smiled at her.

He then stopped and pointed to his right. "That one right there is your locker."

Courtney thanked him and walked up to her locker, thinking that Noah would leave. _Besides, he was just being nice. _However, when she turned around, she found him in the exact same spot he was in.

"I was thinking. It would be a shame if you came late to your first class. So, I was thinking I would accompany you."

Courtney smiled. _I'm going to love this school. I just know it._

* * *

**TENTH GRADE**

By the time sophomore year started, Heather's friends started to get sick of being treated as Heather's slaves...

* * *

**SHOPPING WITH HEATHER**

Kiki grabbed the pink floral dress from the rack. _It's my size, and it's on sale!_ That was, until Heather saw.

"No, Kiki," said Heather. "Remember, we agreed that pink was my color only."

Kiki frowned. _She can't be serious. _"Come on, Heather," whined Kiki. "This is the only color left. And I can't afford anything else cute in this store."

"Okay, fine..." Kiki picked up the dress. "...If you don't mind walking home from school for now on." She put the dress back down.

Heather smiled. _Too easy._ "Good girl. Now find me my size for that dress."

* * *

**HOMEWORK WITH HEATHER**

At the end of the month of every Friday, an essay would be due. And every time at midnight on the Thursday before, Chloe would get a text.

*Buzz*

*Buzz*

*Buzz*

Excuse me, several texts.

Chloe rolled over on her bed and looked at the clock. She frowned. It was midnight. And she was texting. Again.

But she knew that she had to answer her phone. Otherwise, there would be consequences.

She looked at her phone.

_CALL ME ASAP_

So she sighed and dialed her number.

"Hello?"

"What is it, Heather?"

"You know that English essay?"

"You mean on Greek gods?"

"Yeah... I didn't start on it."

She sighed. "What do you want?"

Heather used her sweetest voice. "Help me write it, please?"

"No. I'm tired. You gotta learn to do it on your own."

"But then I'll fail."

"Then fail!"

"But then I won't have my car to take you to all those volunteering thingies."

She squeezed her eyes shut. Heather got her there. "Fine. But I'm not doing the whole essay."

"I would never make you do that."

Heather got an A on that essay. She didn't lie. She did do some of the work. It's just that Chloe had to fix every word.

* * *

...and made any excuse to leave.

"Sorry, Heather. But I really need to get my grades up if I want to make it into this college..."

"Sorry, Heather. But we're just not into the same type of fashion anymore. Let's face it. You're a converse kind of girl while I'm a vans..."

"Sorry, Heather. But you're kind of a bitch..."

Actually, that last one was said by her popular ex-boyfriend, Ryan. Being the basketball star, Heather was able to gain more people's attention. Unfortunately, Ryan also had the worse fashion sense. And Heather made it her mission to make sure he was stylish. Besides, how can one be popular if he had no style?

Maybe it was the fact that she got him dress shoes for school or maybe it was the fact that she practically sneered anytime one of his friends went near her that got him to break up with her.

But Heather didn't mind.

At first.

However, one by one, her friends left Heather's side leaving her friendless and, most importantly, unpopular once again.

How did that make her unpopular? Heather didn't know.

When she walked down the hallway, nobody looked her way. No matter how expensive her shoes and purse were, people just walked by her. _Almost like I'm invisible again._

She missed the people begged her to go shopping with them or begged her to let them borrow her clothes or begged her to let them be her friend. It was not the friends she missed but the popularity. Of knowing that people wanted to be like her. She had to gain that title back.

_But how?_

She walked farther down the hallway and noticed a sign. _Vote Noah for President._ She smiled wickedly.

* * *

If Noah won as president, he would be the youngest one at their school which means that a lot of attention would be given to him. _And to his girlfriend._ The only problem was that someone stood in her way. Someone named Courtney. How could she break them apart?

"Come on in."

She noticed her brother, Damien, walk in with... Courtney?

She smirked. _This is just too easy._

* * *

One conversation was all it took. Noah was pissed. By the time the argument had begun, Heather knew her plan had worked.

* * *

With Noah winning as President, Heather did the best that she could to get close to him. She sat next to him in every class. She always asked him for help. She got him small gifts. However, Noah would not go for anything Heather did. Depressed, Heather down the street, when she noticed a sign for an audition in a reality show. She smirked. _This is my ticket to popularity._

**END OF FLASHBACK  
**

* * *

**A/N: I am really sorry that this chapter is short! Hopefully, you'll forgive me!**

**Anyway, did any of you expect that? What do you think will happen next?**

**Don't worry though because I know exactly where this story is headed. Will you like it? Only time will tell.**

**If you haven any questions, leave it in the reviews and I'll answer it in the next chapter.**

**Thanks for reading (:**

**P.S. How would you feel if I began a Total Drama character rant on my profile?**


	4. I Am Better

Heather buries her head in her hands trying to hide her face in shame. _How did she even know about all of this?_

"Oh, and Heather," said Courtney. Heather reluctantly looks back at the tape recorder to hear Courtney's final words to her. "If you're wondering how I know about all of this, blame your blabber mouth ex-friends. Seriously, they wouldn't shut up during study hall. They would just talk shit about you. Can you say annoying?"

Courtney laughed for a little while, while everyone else stayed silent. "Oh crap, I forgot Lindsay wasn't in the room. She probably would've fell for that trick." Then she cleared her throat. "My point, Heather, is that you took away practically the only thing that made me happy when I was in a crappy situation just to become popular again. Ruin someone else's life just to make yours better. That's the Heather policy, isn't it? Well now, the jokes on you. You tried to convince everyone on this island that you were miss queen bee, and I just gave away your dirty little secret. Isn't karma a bitch?"

Heather sinks more into her spot.

Courtney sighed. "However, in a way, I feel bad for you. Your friends genuinely did want to be friends with you, or at least, that's what they said. Lindsay wanted to be friends with you. Even though you treated her like crap, she told me that you guys had moments together when it felt like real friendship. Lindsay acted like she could care less about you on camera, but off of it, she cried because she felt as though she lost a great friend. Not that I know what that was like..." Gwen sinks a little lower in her chair.

"Anyway, you just threw them away thinking you were above friendship. I hope you have a happy life with Alejandro because he's the only person you're going to have. If you guys break up, you're going to be alone again and this time, you won't have a reality show to give you a second chance."

Heather lets out a soft cry. "That's all I have to say to you," Courtney said. The tape went static.

Heather pulls her knees to her chest and covers her face. For a while, they watch as her shoulders move up and down and listen as her cries grow louder.

Finally, Gwen puts her hand on Heather's shoulder, making Heather's head jump up quickly and shouts, "It's my fault!"

Trent rubs Heather's back, hoping to calm her. "We already established that it's all of our faults," says Trent while glaring at Duncan. "Not just one person's."

Heather shakes her head. "No, you don't understand," she says as she pushes Trent off. "Noah, I'm the reason Courtney didn't get your note! I threw it away so that I would have a better shot getting you."

Noah snaps his head in Heather's direction. "What!"

"I'm sorry. I really am. I just felt so alone, and at that time, I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

Noah glares at Heather while walking towards her. "That doesn't justify what you did! Who cares about your popularity! It doesn't matter how popular you would've been in high school! Once you graduate, that so called hard work will be down the drain!"

"Why do you care that Courtney didn't meet you that day anyway," asks Duncan. "It's not like you guys were meant to be and going to get married someday. Or that she would've gone into a relationship with you again."

Noah grabs a glass cup from the bed stand and hurls it at Duncan (who misses it by a split second). "The note wasn't so that I could date her again you Neanderthal! It was to repair our friendship! It's not like we both had many friends to begin with!" He turns around and walks back to his spot. "And about that marriage thing, I guess we'll never know, will we," he says as he glares at Heather.

The room gets silent after that.

"Um...," says Gwen. "I'm kind of curious. How did you win the election if you weren't popular?"

Noah smirks. "Popularity isn't the only thing that people look for at that school."

"Meaning?"

"Let's let Courtney explain," Bridgette says while putting in tape number three. She presses play.

"Before I reveal the third person's story, let's chat for a little while," said Courtney.

The others just listen. They didn't really have a choice.

"I want to say what happened between my fight with Noah and my coming to Total Drama. So where did I leave off again?"

* * *

**FLASHBACK TO AFTER THE FIGHT WITH NOAH**

Courtney walked angrily to her next class. Nobody was in the room yet, but just to make sure that nobody could hear her, she covered her mouth with her hands and screamed as loud as she could.

_How dare he? After all those years of being together? All those years of friendship wasted. How could he accuse me of such a thing?_

She felt the tears threatening to spill and put her face on the desk trying to silence herself. _Don't you dare cry. You're stronger than this. Your better than him._

_...Right?_

* * *

The next day, Courtney slowly walked to her locker and lazily took out her books for class. She yawned. The last night, she stayed up thinking about Noah and crying her eyes out. Needless to say, when she woke up that morning, she looked like crap. However, not anything a bit of make up couldn't fix.

She missed Noah... A lot more than she wished. He was basically the only friend she made at this school. Yes, she also talked to other people, but she just couldn't connect with them. Like Damien. She would find that their only common ground was the debate club, and although she loved that club, she didn't want to talk about it 24/7.

Maybe she would try to talk to Jenny...

* * *

"Hey Jenny," Courtney said while attempting to smile. So far, she hasn't talked to Noah for two whole periods and it felt... weird...

However, Jenny, being the energetic person she was, literally skipped over to Courtney and hugged her. "Courtney," she screamed. "Come sit with me." She patted on the spot next to her.

Courtney sat down. Although she didn't socialize with Jenny that much, it was mostly because she spent most of her time with Noah. Jenny was easy to talk to though. She was always energetic and was exactly the kind of person Courtney needed to make her happy again.

"So, did you hear about Noah," asked Jenny.

Courtney felt a slight stab in her heart at the mention of his name but ignored it. "Jenny, I don't really want to talk about him..."

"Oh yeah, because of that thing yesterday... But I promise that this news has nothing to do with that. And after I say it, we can talk shit about him, I promise." Courtney squirmed suddenly feeling uncomfortable. "Or not mention him at all," said Jenny.

Courtney sighed. She knew that Jenny desperately wanted to share the news and why should she ruin Jenny's day just because she's having a bad one? "No, it's okay. Tell me."

"Okay, so Noah is our new president."

"How can you know that for sure? The elections didn't even happen yet."

"I know, but that junior that was running dropped out which means that Noah wins."

Courtney felt her blood boil. _He just gets everything doesn't he?_ "Well I think that's bullshit," yelled Courtney. "He doesn't even listen to anyone's opinion! He does whatever he wants to do! He's rude and selfish and doesn't deserve it!"

Courtney breathed heavily before realizing that she was in front of Jenny. "I'm sorry," said Courtney. "I'm just upset because of him."

Jenny shook her head. "Are you kidding? That was amazing! I mean, you're right. Noah is all of those things and everyone knows it. Somebody should really go against him."

Courtney laughed. "I should run against him."

Jenny laughed and shook her head. "No offense Courtney, but you're not the most known girl at this school..."

Courtney stopped laughing and glared at Jenny. Yes, she meant running against him as a joke, but she didn't think that Jenny would say something like that. _Is she defying my abilities? _"And Noah is? Or, do you just think that I'm not capable of winning this thing? I can win this thing Jenny. I'm in the speech club. I can write better speeches than Noah." _I'm better than Noah._

Jenny shrugged. "If that's what you want to do, I won't stop you from it. Just know that the due date is tomorrow morning before school."

"Fine. I can still finish on time. I just need someone to record my speech."

"No worries. Tom wants to be part of the council too. If you promise him a position, he'll do anything for you. And besides, this will look great on your college application."

Courtney frowned. Last night, her parents were fighting over their financial state again. It became clear to Courtney that her parent's couldn't afford to send her off to college unless if she went to a community one.

Jenny noticed Courtney's facial expression. "Oh, I get it. Financial problems?" Courtney nodded. "Here." She handed Courtney an audition paper.

"Total Drama Island?"

"It's a competition. The winner gets $100,000."

"I don't know..."

Jenny smirked. "Weren't you the one who just gave the speech about how you're capable of anything? Besides, it's a video audition. You can record your speech and the audition at the same time."

The bell rang.

"Courtney, just talk to Tom. I'm sure that he'll have some ideas to get you to win."

Jenny picked up her bag and started to walk away. Then, she turned around and said, "Oh, and if you want a new boy, I think I can set you up with Scott. I heard he has a bit of a crush on you."

Courtney turned around and watched Scott carve his name into a tree. She turned around and shook her head. "Thanks, but I'm not really into bad boys."

* * *

During lunch, Courtney met Tom in the front of the school.

"Okay, first things first," said Tom. "You have to fill in an application to run. Now the trick is to put as many academic stuff on it. By doing so, the admission people will let you run. If you don't, they basically rip up your application. So, let me guess, you're a straight A student?"

Courtney nodded her head.

"Okay, what have you done?"

"I wrote a book... was a CIT... in the debate club... in the speech club... a synchronized swimmer captain..."

"What?"

"Don't ask."

"Okay, now for your two videos. You need one for the presidential speech and one for Total Drama Island. Did you memorize the speech I gave you?"

"No."

"What?"

"Come on, Tom. I think that I'm capable of writing my own speech. I'm in the speech club, remember?"

"Whatever, let's just do the presidential one."

* * *

An hour later, Courtney went through two tapes before finishing her speech.

Tom shook his head. "Seriously?"

"What?"

"You want them to vote for you based on that speech. Not fall asleep."

Courtney scoffed. "Excuse me. I'll have you know that with a speech like that I would've won a speech competition like that." She snapped her fingers.

"Whatever, let's just film the audition tape. And hurry because I got to go to gym class in like five minutes."

Courtney sighed. "Fine, I'll do a shorter version."

"Ready and go."

"Vote for Courtney! Hi! Vote for Courtney! Oh, hi! So as you know, I'm running for student council president, and if I win, I'll be the youngest one ever at this school. If you pick me for your new show, I promise I'll conduct myself with integrity, honor, and I'll get two new pot machines for the cafeteria. Oh, fuck, I just mixed up the two speeches." Tom rolled his eyes at that. He looked at his watch and almost swore. _Only got one minute to get to gym class._

"Can we start over?"

_She can't be serious. I got class to go to._ So, he shook his head no which also shook the camera.

"What do you mean 'no'?"

"I mean, I gotta get to gym class," said Tom as he heard the bell ring signaling the start of class. _And, I'm late._

She walked up to Tom and put her hand over the lens. "You promised you'd tape my audition for Total Drama Island, Tom! Oh, just give the camera! Give it to me!"

Tom rolled his eyes again and stopped the tape. "Look, I got to go. If you want, I'll help you with this after school." Not wanting to get into a fight with her, he dropped the camera, picked up his bag, and walked away quickly.

"But I have speech club after school!"

"Well then, I guess you're screwed!" he yelled back at her without turning around.

She watched as Tom left and turned back on the camera. "You are so no going to be my secretary if I win..." _Anyway..._ "Vote for Courtney!"

* * *

**THE NEXT DAY**

Courtney whistled as she walked to Jenny. After filming her audition tape and her speech, she gave the tapes to Jenny, who said that she would edit the tapes and deliver them. Courtney was beyond excited. She knew that she could beat Noah. _I am better than him_.

"Hey Jenny," said Courtney. "Did you deliver the tapes?"

"Well," said Jenny. "The thing is, your speech broke a rule."

"Which one?"

"The one that says that your speech can only be up to ten minutes at most. You're speech is over an hour. I couldn't even edit it to half an hour."

Courtney groaned. _And it's due today. _"So now what?"

Jenny held up two discs. "These are your Total Drama Island audition. I can give one as your presidential speech, and one as your audition."

"But didn't I swear in it?"

"Yeah, but I bleeped it out. It's going to be okay. I doubt they'll even care. They'll probably just laugh it off."

Courtney shook her head. "No, they won't. I could get in trouble for that!"

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Will you relax? It'll be okay. Besides, it's the only option you have left."

"No, it's not. I'm going to drop out."

"And let Noah win?"

"As long as I don't get in trouble, I really don't give a damn."


End file.
